Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 214 Best Friend
While waiting for payday, the glasses Chen Xuan had ordered finally arrived at the shop.

Compared to the wallet, this shipment took about half a month to arrive, which is ridiculously slow for Jiangcheng, where express delivery usually arrives the next day.

There's not much to say about the glasses themselves... thin black rims, no prescription lenses; they can be worn purely as a decorative item. Chen Xuan looked in the mirror and found that his already handsome face now possessed an added air of erudition.

He looked at Lin Qing, his fingers resting on the temple of his glasses, and the other person's ability immediately popped up in front of him, exactly like the effect of a scan.

If you operate the barcode scanner by hand, the options on the lens will also move, which is equivalent to transferring the screen on the gun to your glasses.

"Is this the goods you ordered?" Lin Qing, who was tidying up the shop, also noticed the glasses on his face. "They look very ordinary."

“It is the ordinariness that highlights its superior technology,” Chen Xuan replied.

Ever since the barcode scanner malfunctioned, he stopped treating these gadgets like magical artifacts. Barcode scanners and computers are, in fact, high-tech products, each with its own set of internal components to keep them running. These glasses are the same; the frames must be packed with microelectronic components to create such a lightweight product.

It even has a battery level indicator in the upper right corner.

According to the instruction manual, the glasses will be charged using solar energy and the wearer's body heat, and under normal circumstances, it will never stop working.

The transformation of the fruit store was also very successful.

Although some regular customers were greatly surprised by the speed of the store's renovation, they readily accepted Chen Xuan's transformation after seeing that he was still offering the usual items like cigarettes, beer, and instant noodles. The addition of fresh fruit has attracted a large number of new customers, resulting in an increase in the number of people visiting the store recently.

Jiang Siqi's phone remained silent, as if the maintenance agency had focused all its attention on the eroded area. The Wuhuan Machinery Factory had also erected high walls, seemingly intending to turn the open-air park into a closed fortress.

Liu Shuyue still visits the shop every few days.

Besides helping to greet guests, she would also share her recent learning experiences with Chen Xuan.

Although Chen Xuan couldn't understand a single word.

Those mysterious and profound principles are even more terrifying than advanced mathematics.

The relatively calm period lasted until the end of January, when Jiangcheng saw its first snowfall. Chen Xuan faced a choice—whether or not to go back to his hometown for the Spring Festival. In fact, he hadn't been back for more than two years. Before, it was because he was working at a large company and couldn't leave when projects were in progress, but that reason was obviously no longer valid.

However, this choice is not difficult to make.

Especially after his mother called him.

"You've already resigned, why aren't you coming back? Jiangcheng is such a dangerous place. It's one thing if you don't leave normally, but now that everyone's run away, why are you still here? What if you get targeted by those villains with superpowers?"

"Mom, who told you that everyone in Jiangcheng has run away?"

"Isn't that right? Everyone's posting about it on WeChat Moments... saying Jiangcheng is going to become a ghost town!"

Chen Xuan silently rolled his eyes. "Next time, I suggest you block these 'friends'."

"I don't care, just tell me if you're coming back or not!"

"Okay, okay, I'll go back!"

Chen Xuan's hometown is right next to Jiangcheng, just an hour and a half away by high-speed rail, and tickets are not hard to buy.

The biggest problem is that he has to bring a shop assistant with him.

Otherwise, the store would consider him negligent and send him back to the store that night.

After Chen Xuan told Lin Qing about it, she immediately patted her chest and said, "Do you want me to go? No problem! I'll go wherever you go!"

"No...it's not like I have to let you..."

“Xiao Shuyue definitely won’t have time to stay there for ten days or half a month. She still has Mala Village and the Liu family to take care of,” Lin Qing interrupted directly.

"But……"

"If no one's going to manage the shop, then it's better to close it down. Most shops will close during the Chinese New Year anyway, so it would seem strange if you stayed open. Don't underestimate the big data system of government agencies. It's not impossible that they would notice a fruit shop in a neighborhood that clearly has no business and is still open."

"I……"

"Do you really want me to spend the New Year here all alone?" Lin Qing sniffed, pretending to be sad. "I know... I'll sit by the window watching the snow fall outside while I cook myself instant noodles..." "Alright!" Chen Xuan quickly stopped her sighing. "It's not that I don't agree to you going! What I want to say is, what's your ID number? I need to buy you a ticket."

Lin Qing's eyes immediately lit up. "That's easy. I'll forge one for you right now."

Chen Xuan nodded, then hesitated for a moment before saying, "I've already told my family... I said I'd be bringing a friend along for the New Year. But misunderstandings are bound to happen at this time of year, so if you hear anything, just pretend it doesn't exist—"

“I understand, it’s okay for me to pretend to be your girlfriend,” she said directly.

"Uh..." Chen Xuan was caught off guard, "Will it be like this in the future too?"

“We’ll celebrate the New Year in the future too. Of course… only prominent families need family certification. For ordinary people, the New Year is just an excuse to reunite with their families.” Lin Qing paused, her eyes slightly lowered. “I don’t have any family, so I’ve been spending the New Year at the base.”

Now that things have come to this point, it would seem rather wicked of Chen Xuan not to take her along.

"There's no need to pretend, as long as you don't mind." He looked Lin Qing up and down, then said, "Could you change your hair to a solid color?"

Such vibrant and dazzling hair color might be acceptable in a big city, but back in a small town like my hometown, it would definitely make me the center of attention. If my family saw it, they would most likely worry that I was hanging out with disreputable people.

"Wait a moment." Lin Qing probably adjusted the color settings, and her hair quickly became jet black and shiny. "How about this?"

She even smoothed her hair and made a scissor gesture with one hand against her face.

Chen Xuan's heart skipped a beat.

The loss of her color didn't diminish Lin Qing's allure; instead, it brought her back from the future to the present. She seemed like a completely different person—enthusiastic and lively, yet no longer sweet and cute; she had a bit of an underground idol vibe.

……

Two days later, Chen Xuan and Lin Qing boarded the train home.

He also specifically told Liu Shuyue that if she saw no one in the store, it was okay, and she could call directly if there was an emergency.

"Your hometown isn't that rural, is it?" Lin Qing said, gazing at the scenery outside the car window. For some reason... Chen Xuan sensed a hint of excitement in her voice.

Perhaps it's because I've never left Jiangcheng before, and this new place feels so exciting?

"It's not some remote, mountain village," he said, scoffing. "Everything is relative."

In terms of scale, Yuecheng is nowhere near as good as Jiangcheng.

Its permanent population is just over three million, and its economic ranking is outside the top 100, making it a fifth-tier city. But even though it's underdeveloped, it's still a city, with towering skyscrapers, impressive commercial plazas, and a well-connected subway system... all the basic infrastructure is there.

However, this is only a superficial glamour.

Economic backwardness naturally leads to backwardness in all aspects.

For example, the phenomenon of littering, which is rarely seen in Jiangcheng, is not uncommon in my hometown.

Even if he hasn't returned for two years, that amount of time won't bring about any significant changes.

As Chen Xuan stepped out of the high-speed rail station, he immediately saw two familiar figures.

His father and mother.

The other person had obviously seen him too, and immediately jogged over, waving and calling out as they ran, "Here, here!"

The moment they reunited, his mother hugged him tightly and exclaimed sincerely, "Son, you've gotten so thin! Did you not eat well over there?"

"No, that's not true. Hey, don't be like that." Chen Xuan suddenly felt his face burning. He didn't expect his mother to pull this stunt.

“After all, it’s been two years, so let her have a hug.” Mr. Chen turned to Lin Qing, who was standing to the side, “This is the one you were talking about…”

"Hello, Uncle and Aunt!" Lin Qing said obediently, bowing her head. "My name is Lin Qing. I am Chen Xuan's colleague and also his best friend!"

(End of this chapter)